1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load-bearing apparatus adapted to be fixed to the user""s foot and making it possible to increase the foot load-bearing capacity on a soft support such as snow, sand, or water. More particularly, the invention relates to the raised front portion, so-called shovel, of such a load-bearing apparatus.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
In the state of the prior art, the load-bearing apparatuses, such as snowshoes, have front ends, or shovels, that are more or less raised so as to facilitate the maneuver of pulling the snowshoe out of the snow during walking. The shovel follows a plane that is progressively incurved upward. However, these shovels are not designed specifically for walking, but are drawn from the shovels of apparatuses such as skis or snowboards. Such a shovel is used to engage a turn, therefore to pivot, and does not maintain the direction of the snowshoe during walking.
Another snowshoe, described in the document FR 2 760 374, includes a removable tip. This tip remains in the prior art, as previously described, and is provided with stiffening ribs projecting beneath the tip. These stiffening ribs, even if they are positioned in the axis of the apparatus, are not designed to improve the gliding. Indeed, they are connected to the tip by lateral edges that form, together with the tip, non-progressive junctions that are possibly reinforced with outer small transverse ribs, as shown in the drawings of the aforementioned document.
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a load-bearing apparatus whose shovel holds the direction of the apparatus while preserving proper gliding so as to facilitate the release of the apparatus from the soft support during the walking movement of the user.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whose shovel ensures a non-return gripping function while improving the load-bearing capacity of the apparatus.
To achieve these objects, the load-bearing apparatus of the invention has a shovel that includes a protuberance fixed beneath the lower surface of the shovel, and oriented substantially along the longitudinal axis of the apparatus. Moreover, the protuberance is positioned forwardly with respect to the edges of the lower surface of the shovel by forming a sort of bow. This protuberance enables the apparatus, when it is in support on the shovel, to stabilize the direction of its movement along the longitudinal axis of the apparatus. The improved gliding of the shovel is obtained by gliding surfaces that connect the protuberance to the edges of the shovel. Furthermore, each gliding surface has a continuous slope. One can associate this shovel with scales that have a rearwardly directed concavity adapted to retain the apparatus on the soft support and against rearward movement.